Two-Year Risk of Exudation in Eyes with Non-Exudative AMD and Subclinical Neovascularization Detected with Swept Source OCT Angiography

ABSTRACT Purpose Swept source optical coherence tomography angiography (SS-OCTA) was used to study the prevalence, incidence, and natural history of subclinical macular neovascularization (MNV) in eyes with unilateral non-exudative age-related macular degeneration (AMD). Design Prospective cohort study. Methods Patients were imaged using 3x3 mm and 6x6 mm SS-OCTA scan patterns. MNV was detected using the outer retina to choriocapillaris en face slab. Prevalence and incidence of subclinical MNV, Kaplan-Meier cumulative estimates for the overall risk of exudation, and the association between neovascular lesion size and the risk of exudation were assessed through 2 years. Results From August 2014 through March 2018, 227 patients (154 intermediate and 73 late AMD eyes) underwent SS-OCTA imaging. Thirty eyes (13.2%) had subclinical MNV at first imaging and 12 eyes (8.9%) developed subclinical MNV during follow-up. Of the 191 eyes with more than one visit, 19 developed exudation. Fourteen of these eyes had pre-existing subclinical MNV. The incidence of exudation from the time of first detection of any subclinical MNV was 34.5%. The relative risk of exudation after detection of subclinical MNV was 13.6 times greater (95% confidence interval, 4.9-37.7) than in the absence of subclinical MNV (P Conclusions By 24 months, the risk of exudation was 13.6-times greater for eyes with subclinical MNV detected by SS-OCTA compared with eyes without subclinical MNV. For eyes with subclinical MNV in the absence of symptomatic exudation, we recommend close follow-up without treatment.